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Who was Shakespeare? Who was Shakespeare?
The Stratfordian position The Stratfordian position
The Post-Stratfordian position The Post-Stratfordian position
William Shakespeare was a woman William Shakespeare was a woman
William Shakespeare was part of a collective William Shakespeare was part of a collective
Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford was Shakespeare Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford was Shakespeare
It is there in black and white It is there in black and white
Shakespeare was a common man from Warwickshire Shakespeare was a common man from Warwickshire
Shakespeare's name is on the plays and poems attributed to him Shakespeare's name is on the plays and poems attributed to him
Where is the documentation? Where is the documentation?
There were rumors during Shakespeare's life There were rumors during Shakespeare's life
An education gap An education gap
Shakespeare’s detailed will makes no mention of books or literature Shakespeare’s detailed will makes no mention of books or literature
Not all of Shakespeare's plays were published in his lifetime Not all of Shakespeare's plays were published in his lifetime
The two Shakespeares The two Shakespeares
The case for Francis Bacon The case for Francis Bacon
The case for Christopher Marlowe The case for Christopher Marlowe
The case for Edward de Vere The case for Edward de Vere
The case for Walter Raleigh The case for Walter Raleigh
The feminization of Shakespeare The feminization of Shakespeare
There is sufficient motive There is sufficient motive
William Shakespeare was an 'excellent gentlewoman' William Shakespeare was an 'excellent gentlewoman'
Shakespeare had a hidden code Shakespeare had a hidden code
The case for Emilia Bassano The case for Emilia Bassano
Several of Shakespeare's plays are collaborative efforts Several of Shakespeare's plays are collaborative efforts
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Who was Shakespeare?
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William Shakespeare was a woman

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Shakespeare had a hidden code

Shakespeare's use of feminine endings reveals a female author trying to include subtle hints at her gender.
Sidney L. Gulick Jr.
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Context

Shakespeare employs feminine endings (a verse’s ending with an unstressed, hypermetric syllable) to provide rhythm and flow to his prose. These endings are gradually employed with more frequency in his writing. In his early work, they feature in under 10% of his written prose. Then they increase to around 20%. After 1600, they jump to over 25% of his writing, peaking at 35.4% of verses in the Tempest.[1]

The Argument

This was deliberately done to ensure that ensuing generations cracked the cypher and identified Shakespeare as the female writer she was. The increased frequency of the feminine ending was the author's way of trying to get the message across to the unsuspecting public without actually putting the fact in black and white.

Counter arguments

This 'hidden code' is not a code at all but a writing style. The fact that Shakespeare frequently employs feminine endings to his verse is no more evidence of him being a woman than Herman Melville's frequent use of the word 'whale' in his prose is evidence that he is actually a whale.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Shakespeare's use of female endings was not typical for written works at the time. [P2] The author used it with increased frequency in later plays. [P3] This was a hint to readers that the author was, in fact, female.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] This is not evidence of anything.

References

  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/372745?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
This page was last edited on Monday, 20 Jan 2020 at 09:52 UTC

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